Siemens Faced With Investor Ire at Annual Meeting

Jan 23, 2013 10:05 am GMT

By Archibald Preuschat and Friedrich Geiger

Top executives at Siemens, Germany’s flagship industrial group, faced harsh criticism of the group’s strategy from investors at Wednesday’s annual general meeting in Munich after reporting a fall in net profit in the three months to Dec. 31.

European Pressphoto Agency

Peter Loescher, the chief executive of Siemens.

Institutional investors singled out over-ambitious revenue targets in the past and poor execution of major projects as reasons for their disquiet over the performance of Chief Executive Peter Loescher and his top managers.

“It doesn’t look like the board has intimate knowledge of what’s going on in the operational units,” said Ingo Speich, portfolio manager at Union Investment fund, Siemens’ eighth largest single investor with a holding of roughly 1% of outstanding shares.

Mr. Speich cited the delay in delivering new high speed trains to German railways as an example. “Mr. Loescher, what makes you so confident, that execution of projects will improve in future?” Mr. Speich asked Siemens’ chief executive, according to prepared remarks for the annual meeting.